18 New Documentaries to See in 2018

This year’s real-life stories are so engaging, you won't be able to look away.

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1'Won’t You Be My Neighbor?'

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Shoes off. Sweaters on. Let the freaking out commence. Morgan Neville, who won an Oscar for "Twenty Feet from Stardom," takes us behind the curtains and into the nostalgia of our favorite Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood resident: Fred Rogers himself. Get tickets

2'Wild Wild Country'

Netflix

You want something you can binge? It’s this tell-all from producer Mark Duplass. Over six episodes, you’ll learn about the Rajneeshees, a massive cult who moved from India to a tiny desert town (population: 40) in Oregon to grow their cause, and the bonkers stuff that follows. No hyperbole here: jaws will drop. Watch on Netflix

3'Evil Genius'

Netflix

Once you finish with the Rajneeshees in the Duplass Brothers' initial foray into true-crime sensation, queue up this four-part head-scratcher that meanders through fact, fiction, and all that is diabolical to investigate “the pizza bomber heist,” a bizarre bank robbery with a tangle of even more bizarre suspects. Watch on Netflix

4'King in the Wilderness'

HBO

Peter Kunhardt’s spotlight on the final 18 months of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life premiered at Sundance to universal acclaim, his lens capturing not just the activist’s achievements in the Civil Rights Movement, but the turmoil, anxiety, and conflict Dr. King waded through during that time. Watch on HBO

5'The Gospel According to Andre'

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The arbiter of robed style gets candid in Kate Novack’s portrait of a fashion icon. Her documentary covers everything from Andre Leon Talley’s childhood spent in a segregated South to his ascension in the top of the sartorial universe, and features interviews with Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Ford, Valentino, and others. Get tickets

6'Seeing Allred'

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It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Nope, it’s a heroine in an expertly tailored suit. Gloria Allred, the expert attorney at the center of the country’s most controversial legal cases, is the subject of Roberta Grossman and Sophie Sartain’s doc — and yes, their cameras capture the #MeToo movement. Watch on Netflix

7'Whitney'

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Unlike Showtime’s subtitled "Can I Be Me" doc, Kevin Macdonald’s deep dive into the singer’s all-too-brief existence has been approved by her estate. Though somewhat tame and only mildly obtrusive for the most part, the film uses its final act to drop a bomb. A massive, heartbreaking bomb. Get tickets

8'The Staircase'

Netflix

Get ready for your faith in the justice system to sink even further into the territory labeled "Free Steven Avery." Whether or not famed author Michael Peterson murdered his wife with a blow poke in 2003 isn’t the issue in this award-winning docuseries. What is: how far the prosecution will go for a guilty verdict. Watch on Netflix

9'McQueen'

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Ian Bonhote’s depiction of legendary fashion designer Alexander McQueen, whose rag-to-riches story started in his teens and ended all too soon in suicide at the ago of 40 premieres in June in the UK. And having been secured by Bleecker for release in North America, we’re hoping for a 2018 release.

10'Mercury 13'

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You may have to dig, but somewhere between "Cosmos" and "Planet Earth" is this groundbreaking Netflix original that demands to be seen. The title’s numeral refers to the group of female rocket pilots who were asked ordered to move aside, as back then, only men belonged in space. Watch on Netflix

Will the real woman behind the Notorious R.B.G. meme please stand up? Over the years, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg has gone from courthouse powerhouse to pop culture icon, and directors Julie Cohen and Betsy West want you to know about every trail-blazing effort along the way. Get tickets

13'Eating Animals'

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Considering going vegan? This harrowing, graphic peek into the industrial production of food, produced and narrated by Natalie Portman, might just be the nudge away from meat you need. Based on Jonathan Safran Foer’s same-name read, this one’s the game changer in a saturated field of food docs. Get tickets

14'Dark Money'

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In an attempt to follow, define, and expose “dark money,” or untraceable anonymous political funds, director Kimberly Reed and reporter John Adams deliver a compelling thriller about how American elections are smeared, bought, and sold. Pause for “Well, this couldn’t be timelier, could it?” comments. Find screenings

15'John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection'

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One does not need to be a die-hard fan of controversial tennis legend John McEnroe to enjoy Julien Faraut’s meditative sports doc. One does not even need to be a fan of tennis. Faraut’s experimental film explores the worlds of cinema and sport, and how the two are connected. Just go with it.

If there’s one thing we can bank on, it’s that no amount of red tape can keep left-wing documentary filmmaker Michael Moore from exposing the goo mucking up an industry. Here, he sets his lens on the chaos of the 2016 presidential election for a sequel to his mega-grossing "Fahrenheit 9/11."

You have our permission to drag out the and leg warmers for Susan Lacy’s all-encompassing look at the now-80-year-old who morphed aerobics junkie, fashion model, Hollywood royalty, political activist, Oscar winner, and social pariah into one amazing woman.

Look for it: September 24 on HBO

18'306 Hollywood'

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Siblings Elan and Jonathan Bogarin bring their deceased grandmother back to life by filming the excavation of the home she once lived in and the things she once owned. Part biopic, part magical-realist rumination, the two offer the genre a new format and the ordinary a beautiful homage.

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